Biopsy masses or tumors in human tissue which are palpable by a surgeon can be localized by touch to be removed during surgery. Many biopsy masses, however, are too small to be palpable or are located in fatty tissue which interferes with the surgeon's perception of the exact location of the tumor or mass. This is particularly true with small breast masses, which, prior to the subject invention, have been located mostly by imprecise methods requiring more expenditure of time to entirely remove the mass.
Moreover, prior art methods of removing masses which are unpalpable require the use of several different instruments during the operation causing undue manipulation of the surrounding tissue and exposing the tissue prior to the removal of the mass.
Thus, an object of this invention is to provide a method and apparatus for precisely locating an unpalpable tumor or abnormal mass in the earliest possible stage of detection without causing undue mutilation of the surrounding healthy tissue, and ensuring the complete removal of the targeted mass. The subject invention creates a single channel through the surrounding tissue to the targeted mass avoiding a multiple use of surgical instruments and unneccessary exposure of the surrounding tissue.